Films & Schedules
- Art

FINDING VIVIAN MAIER

DIRECTOR: John Maloof, Charlie Siskel - UNITED STATES

Street photographer Vivian Maier was a mystery even to those who knew her. A secretive nanny in the wealthy suburbs of Chicago, she died in 2009 and would have been forgotten. But Maloof, an amateur historian, uncovered thousands of her negatives at a storage locker auction and changed history. Now Maier is hailed alongside the likes of Diane Arbus, Robert Frank, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Weegee as a major artist. And that is just where the story begins. Finding Vivian Maier follows the filmmakers as they unearth Vivian’s story, combing through thousands of negatives and tracking down the families she worked...

Street photographer Vivian Maier was a mystery even to those who knew her. A secretive nanny in the wealthy suburbs of Chicago, she died in 2009 and would have been forgotten. But Maloof, an amateur historian, uncovered thousands of her negatives at a storage locker auction and changed history. Now Maier is hailed alongside the likes of Diane Arbus, Robert Frank, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Weegee as a major artist. And that is just where the story begins. Finding Vivian Maier follows the filmmakers as they unearth Vivian’s story, combing through thousands of negatives and tracking down the families she worked for and others who remember her. The story that emerges goes beyond clichés of the undiscovered artist and a strange life to ask as many questions about ourselves as it does about her. (83 mins.)

Note: The Sunday 2/9 screening is cancelled. Tickets can be refunded or exchanged for another film. Please call our Advance Ticket Outlet between the hours of noon and 6 p.m. at 503-276-4310 (closed Sunday 2/9).

LEVITATED MASS

DIRECTOR: Doug Pray - UNITED STATES

Levitated Mass chronicles the journey of a 340-ton granite boulder that was moved from a quarry in Riverside to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and mounted upon the walls of a 456-foot-long concrete slot. First attempted in 1968, the 2012 permanent installation “Levitated Mass” is the latest land sculpture by one of America’s most misunderstood and exciting artists, Michael Heizer. His rock’s 105-mile transport captured international media attention and challenged the imagination of thousands of southern Californians over 10 nights as it crawled through four counties on a football-field-long transport. As fascinating is the dramatic story of Heizer’s...

Levitated Mass chronicles the journey of a 340-ton granite boulder that was moved from a quarry in Riverside to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and mounted upon the walls of a 456-foot-long concrete slot. First attempted in 1968, the 2012 permanent installation “Levitated Mass” is the latest land sculpture by one of America’s most misunderstood and exciting artists, Michael Heizer. His rock’s 105-mile transport captured international media attention and challenged the imagination of thousands of southern Californians over 10 nights as it crawled through four counties on a football-field-long transport. As fascinating is the dramatic story of Heizer’s past and present work, the ambitions of a major metropolitan museum, and the public’s reaction to this massive display of modern (yet ancient-feeling) conceptual art. (88 mins.)

WHAT IS CINEMA?

DIRECTOR: Chuck Workman - UNITED STATES

Chuck Workman is best known for creating unforgettable Oscar montage sequences. In What is Cinema?, he shares his understanding and love of avant-garde cinematic language by creating a visual essay out of clips from films that have pushed the boundaries of the art form. Woven among them are new and archival interviews with a pantheon of personal filmmakers that provide food for thought on where cinema might be headed. Workman’s interview subjects include the likes of Mike Leigh, Jonas Mekas, Yvonne Rainer, David Lynch, video artist Bill Viola, Kelly Reichardt, Costa-Gavras, Ken Jacobs, and Michael Moore, who consider key artists...

Chuck Workman is best known for creating unforgettable Oscar montage sequences. In What is Cinema?, he shares his understanding and love of avant-garde cinematic language by creating a visual essay out of clips from films that have pushed the boundaries of the art form. Woven among them are new and archival interviews with a pantheon of personal filmmakers that provide food for thought on where cinema might be headed. Workman’s interview subjects include the likes of Mike Leigh, Jonas Mekas, Yvonne Rainer, David Lynch, video artist Bill Viola, Kelly Reichardt, Costa-Gavras, Ken Jacobs, and Michael Moore, who consider key artists from Chantal Akerman to Andy Warhol, along with vintage interviews with Robert Bresson, Alfred Hitchcock, Akira Kurosawa, and many others. (80 mins.)

Filmography: Superstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol (90), Jonas Mekas and the (Mostly) American Avant-Garde Cinema (09), Visionaries (10).

Sponsored by the Portland State University English Department and the NWFC School of Film.